picture time

So on Saturday it was our team to sweep on the ride. once again we had our awesome group of folks (see pictures)

and had a great breakfast at sharky's grill a couple miles after we left camp.

kaitlyn and i ended up sleeping on the couches the night before in the YMCA lobby as they were so comfortable and the lobby is open 24/7! we got through the climbs together which weren't as bad as we thought and then enjoyed an incredible sixty mile descent down into Denver, It was the most fun on the bike i've had so far, doing 50km/hr around endless tight corners in beautiful canyon country, unfortunately i had to stay focused and really didn't get any pictures down it, i'll have to get em off of flickr. still that day we stopped again in morrison for some milkshakes at the blue cow eatery before finally getting into denver way too late for supper.

thus after a shower and some organization we all went out to a "bar" (its in quotations as people here seem to have different ideas of bars and clubs, this bar was a fifties style diner, which was cool, but not what we really wanted.) for supper, there were like 30 of us there and like always at the end there was a huge deal about figuring out who paid what with one person ending up paying the difference...i really don't understand how these things happen, there must be some people who just don't pitch in and sneak away, i don't know, ticks me off though. anyway after that a few of us spent an hour and a bit trying to find a place to go dancing but we once again ran into the problem of the locals thinking a club is an empty diner...weird. sunday started with sleeping in which was great and then a great celebration service in a football field, we all rode our bikes around the track before hand which was cool.

afterwards we took the rail to downtown Denver which was sweet, really cool lookin buildings and a great smoothie place (jamba juice) where we went back for seconds on our way back up the street.


I also bought a sweet beanie cap today which should be pictured below.

well spirits are high right now as the tough week is over and everyone is full of great visual memories and great food. apparently this weeks is easy riding but could start getting plain again...see my last post for what i think of this. The Denver community has been incredible making our stay enjoyable in so many ways, great facility use (including this computer lab), continuous shuttles for laundry and downtown, great meals, great celebration service and much more. anyway this is pretty long so i'll sign out for now. Happy 28th Anniversary mom and dad, (thanks for the reminder dad, and the package with some clothes) and to all enjoy for now.

roller coaster days (geographically and mentally)

well my opinion of Colorado has completely changed. today we biked from Kremling to Snow Mtn. Ranch (a YMCA park, its so big) we biked along the Colorado River and through some Canyons. yesterday when we biked into Kremling it was amazing as we biked up this hill which opend up to a great view of the mountains which were beginning to storm. i can handle virtually any ride as long as there is something to see. after that i'd like overcast skies, a tailwind and finally good pavement. the last couple days have been so awesome as there has been a ton of places to stop as well, we've stopped in every town along the way at various cafes and bike shops. in steam boat springs we found this sweet bike shop in a building that looks like a termite mound. they were so helpful and i bought a blue tire as i begin to start color coordinating parts of my bike, Jenna already thinks i'm chochy and me pimpin out my bike is also chochy, apparantly Kaitlyn agrees but i really don't care...i love it. we also stopped at a sweet bagel shop where i'm pretty sure i bought the most expensive and delicious bagel ever. we also had a cool chance to chat with a family in the shop who were so stoked about our tour and were going to donate as they thought this was so much better than people just asking for money. i bet we've raised thousands more on this trip just from people hearing about us along the way. yesterday i was so late that i thought i was going to be riding by myself again but then lawrence walked by and wasn't even close to being ready either so we decided to ride together...just like old times, it was a great morning as we bs'd the first 20k away until we found out that we would get ticketed if we continued to ride side by side (not just us, the whole group). we're on sweep again right now and so tonight i was serving apple sauce like no else (except the other lady right next to me serving the second line, but she had a better scooper so i think i did better) and tomorrow we're riding last which i'm looking so forward to too...i love sweeping, its so relaxing, and our group is a lot of fun. it'll be sad to part with marty though as he leaves the tour tomorrow. k well that's enough for now. oh and the other day when i was complaining about my spoke i forgot to mention the fact that John Vandersteen was a life saver and found a new spoke and put it on for me too, otherwise i would have had much more serious problems. Uncle Nick apparantly you know him (he told me that you said he was supposed to take care of me, lol, and he is) he's awesome. k tomorrow is almost here so its bed time. thanks for reading folks. and i will try to get a couple more pics up. it just takes soooo long. out

colorful colorado...all lies

this week has and is a pretty tough week, these 150k days are just a little too long, and the freakin straight hot chipseal no scenery roads are really starting to tick me off. my bike is continuing to fall apart as the other day one of my spokes broke going 70km/hr plus down the backside of our unmapped 50km climb day (150k total). i did get my seat replaced though which has been a lot more comfortable. the ride from Wallard bay to Salt lake city the other day was awesome as it was 100k of urban sprawl so the roads were pretty good and there was always something to look at. we also checked out the mormon temple which was pretty sweet, there were like 7 weddings going on there. the foyer for the joseph smith memorial building was unbelievable with a huge chandelier and 4 ft diameter green marble pillars etc. Salt lake is a pretty wealthy city and i have a picture of a 500k rolls royce to prove it. a few people are starting to get sick (little lawrence just got a cold this morning) so i am trying to stay clean. (just for you mom) dynamics are still pretty smooth but there's a little more gossip starting to arise as people learn each others quirks (i am guilty of it as well). I'm spending a little too much money i think but i just found out i have a $3000 of unkown funds as i received a gst income tax credit so i think i can do it without too much guilt. nothing too exciting overall though, i'll try to keep you posted.

a bit of reality.

sorry for the delay but it has been a long few days. i've been in late for the last three nites as i went on sweep duty for all of them even though i only was scheduled for one, i was just having so much fun in the mornings on sweep that i wanted to do it again. the ends of the days get really long though, i just love getting up late and watching everybody else scurry around while i relax and then take an hour break at the local cafe to start of my day. i am feeling pretty fatigued over all though and tomorrow is going to be in the top two hardest besides stephens pass supposedly. couple events, Brad, Nick and I took the pizza challenge in Malta the other day which was you had to eat a 15" pizza and drink a 1l pop in an hour and then it would be free. i copped out after 8 pieces but Brad and Nick did the whole thing. then they went out and threw a bunch up. oh yah did i mention this was before we had another 80 km to ride in the blistering sun...yah, not fun times. right now i'm gettin eatin alive at Wallard Bay state park in utah. nice refreshing swim it was but unfortunately water means bugs. it has been pretty good so far though as the heat has kept them away i believe. I am definitely starting to hate this terrain though, when a road goes straight for 50k and you can't even see the end cuz it mirages...that's not cool. i vow myself every day that i will not ever live in this kind of country. i really don't know why God made so much of this stuff. my bike is starting to show a few signs of dissrepair and i had to replace my tire today. this sunday will be a serious maintenance day (as well as sleep in...woot) no more pics as i don't have time for now. dale and i figured out tonight that we have about 250k worth of bikes with us right now...crazy. the early and late morning crowd at this point seem to be spreading farther and farther apart right now and i think that eventually something might give. oh well that's the joy of living in community. six and a bit weeks to go. goodnight. oh and mom i did not recieve a care package if you sent one, just fyi. Enjoy!

ice blocking and river floating...aka awesome.

from left to right at supper (kaitlyn, Peter, Kevin, Eric, Jodi, Emily, Me)
Wow what an incredible weekend, after yesterdays easy ride (as i went slow) we have a day off. one of jodi's friends invited a bunch of us over to her house for a good meal and a nice sleep. our host Emily has been a superhost extraordinaire, i haven't seen anyone with this much get up and go since cheryl tromp. first her parents made us a delicious bbq rib dinner, then it was off to the recently deceased j.r. simplot's grass hill (i guess the guy owned potatoe farms and sold his taters to micky d's and was incredibly rich, but then gave the property to the state of Idaho) where we went ice blocking, a wonderful sport where you buy a big ice block, put a towel on it to sit and slide down the hill, and cruise. today we had a celebration rally that discussed peace (i just learned each week is supposed to focus on one of the fruits of the spirit) then it was off to Boise river where we floated down on inner tubes, with little rapids and everything, was an incredible two hour ride. i am burning through the money a lot faster than i planned which worries me...but just a little bit. as far as riding, i have felt a little fatigued and weak lately but i think that may be the 180k i just had, plus my lack of training starting to catch up. but the biking is really only such a small part of the tour, each day just brings me to new highs and i know that the tide will turn soon. hopefully i'm ready. if any of you would like me to focus on different elements in my blog posts let me know and i'll empahsize those areas, after all, this blog is for you guys. thanks for reading! enjoy

century ride

right now i sit in mcdonalds on someone elses computer as the one i was using just died. its been such a trip to do anything online. today's ride was a welcome easy ride with only about 50k, yesterday was only supposed to be 74k but ended up being 180k with over 4000ft of total ascent. 17 of us decided to take on a challenge and do a mountain ride before the days ride. it was only supposed be a 15k ride that hooked back up. we ended up getting down the other side of the mountain only to exhaust all the roads and realize that the only way to our route was back up the mountain. in the end our little detour was 100k and 4000ft of ascent. i was not a happy camper, just ask john vanderveen. overall spirits are high though and i'm really enjoying the laughs and good times with all the other people here. today i was so happy as they started breakfast an hour later as we had a short day. i finally got to get up on my schedule AND get breakfast. i only think i've had the breakfast 3 times this tour. otherwise i just eat bananas and granola bars. on a sadder note i got my first flat a couple days ago which was very dissapointing as i had visions of making it all the way without a flat. its funny because everytime someone gets their first flat they're hopes are dashed. right after my flat lawrence got two and in turns out we were like 2 minutes from the camp. sweet anyway this computer is in hight demand and i have to go. to the banks, i'm sorry for not making my payments, to my parents, sorry for not calling, and to the rest of the world, sorry, im just having too much fun to talk to anyone esle...enjoy!

feeling good today

k so first biking day of the second week, today was a great day, challenging ride that kept you focused but i felt great and really pulled hard up against the hills, rode with laurence again today and i like his pace. we all hit up a dq afterards and it was a glorious occasion. then it was off to walmart where the three of us were walking around in our sweet spandex shorts and everyone was looking at us. we were pretty good natured though and people were having some fun with it. two little girls just couldn't help it and were constantly peaking around the isles and then running back killing themselves laughing. its been nice to hang out with a few new people this week and i'd like to get to know even more. we stopped by a large grainery today where one of the workers was just hangin out talkin with the people who stopped by, apparantly they have on government owned grainery tank that is filled up and then left to sit for seven years, this is the eigth so its been emptied and will be refilled again. kinda cool as that is a biblical principal, the farmer knew the story well too and fit the american wheat farmer description to a t. i know how to get pics up now so hopefully i'll have some time later. thanks for reading and your comments. time for peleton meeting.

what a day

well after 15 minutes i'm finally connected, the connection here has been sporadic at best. pretty frustrating but the communication people have been trying to keep it up. i guess this was a similar problem in the 2005 tour. the last few days of riding have been pretty easy which means we've taken some time to find some distracions. the other day we found a 40ft cliff to jump off of into the river in the canyon. have some pics will hopefully someday get them up. that day we also found a bridge to jump off of. apparently its illegal to be nude in public but we didn't know that yet when we decided to sqeeze out our biking gear naked on the side of the highway after the jump. then yesterday we swam across a river but when coming back me and one of the guys ended up in a thick section of over head height thorn bushes that we had to bush wack through in just our shoes and shorts (brad didn't even have his shoes, once again pics later) anyway that was stupid. My legs and arms are very cut up. today we had a celebration service then got taken out wakeboarding for a while which was sweet. its been nice to have a day off and i kinda like this just camping for a bit. anyway its peleton meeting time so i better go, i really wish we had internet more constantly so i could do this stuff easier, i haven't paid bills in a while. oops.

ok so

ok so, there is a lot to say. unfortunately my little machine has stopped working and so i have not been able to access internet for a while. right now i sit at the end of day three and it has been some intense riding, the weather has been beautiful but that means heat heat heat. closer to 40 degrees at some points. the second two days have been really tough climbs. it has been really cool to see how different groups form and break throughout the day and all the dynamics the arise. yesterday coming down stevens pass was a great experience as i rode in a pace line for the first time. its amazing how much easier and faster one can bike when even just paired up. going up stevens pass on day two i had one rider that teamed up with me to tackle the 4000ft ascent and it was cool experiencing how quickly you can create bonds when teaming with others to get through adversity. this whole operation is truly impressive when you look at all the vehicles and personnel that are involved. the kitchen staff and the food have been incredible, working long days (11 hrs) and preparing some excellent food. this morning i slept in pretty late and was the last person to get my stuff on the gear truck which didn't please the sweep team so i will have to be up earlier tomorrow, its ten to twelve now though so i don't think i'be quite learned my lesson. It has been great meeting all the new people and starting to be able to get past the initial introduction stages which can be somewhat exhausting at times. i will try to put up some pictures eventually but it may take a while to figure out how to get my machine repaired and how to put them up on this blog, for now hopefully text will do. Enjoy!